There's always a taker ...
[theory]
1. Maj7 chord is no 'scary' thing. It is simply notes 1,3,5,7 from the major scale. Chord iii
is minor so I think of it as simply … Em chord laid onto a different base. You can express
that as a 'cross chord' on the left end (Em / C bass) or play the easy Em on the right
(D row pull E,G,B) against left bass, or even the right pull C (
DrowE,G,B
GrowC).
It all depends what the rest of the tune is doing. Practice all 3 … you can pop it in at will
The 'devil' is in the
using of it. As an extended chord it has a jazz feel and can fight folk tunes a bit.
Be sparse about that. It harmonises (obviously!) as either C or Em so can be easy lubrication whenever
your tunes runs against C=>Em or Em=>C
Essentially playing CMaj7 right through … works
2. I got the Em9/C trick from Stéph Milleret when I had a week with him, few years back. Dick is spot
on with his analysis, but Stéph calls it CMaj7
#13 recognising that the F# throws into 2nd
octave, conventionally continuing our note numbering 1,3,5,7…11,13,15 'right through'. That seems to
be the way it's done now ... Wagner's "Tristan" chord (also trivial on melodeon
) is looked at in these
terms. NB had we played F# in lower octave it would clash horribly with the C. Played 18 semitones
apart … well it feels like tears to me
NB2: this is 2-row stuff. Not an accidental in sight
[/theory]
[practice]
I'm presently working up Harry Robinson's "Little Pot Stove" for box, following Nic Jones' lead in using
mainly sus chords for cadence. Also Nic's (incredible, inimiatable!) swing. Extending the chord in this
way is just perfect as if you pull the lyric forward or backward … it still harmonises. (See Cmaj7 above)
The chorus is … all about ice and misery? So I extend my C chord =>maj7 and just 'touch in' a brief
F# with my (Rt) little finger - otherwise idle. Timing against the song is … subtle and I only started
this experiment this morning. So far so good.
[practice]
Back to topic … I suggest the 5 note chord simply as a variation, and … just the once. But it is a natural, and fairly easy extend to what Liam is doing.